Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 16, 2025
A Simple Cell-based Immunofluorescence Assay to Detect Autoantibody Against the N-Methyl-D-Aspartate NMDA Receptor in Blood
Published on: January 9, 2018
Single-cell transcriptomics reveals cell type-specific immune regulation associated with anti-NMDA receptor
Yushu Jiang1, Shuhua Dai2, Linlin Jia1
1Department of Neurology, Henan Joint International Research Laboratory of Accurate Diagnosis, Treatment, Research and Development, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
Introduction:
Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis (anti-NMDARE) is a rare autoimmune disease, and the peripheral immune characteristics associated with anti-NMDARE antibodies remain unclear.
Methods:
Herein, we characterized peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with anti-NMDARE and healthy individuals by single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq).
Results:
The transcriptional profiles of 129,217 cells were assessed, and 21 major cell clusters were identified. B-cell activation and differentiation, plasma cell expansion, and excessive inflammatory responses in innate immunity were all identified. Patients with anti-NMDARE showed higher expression levels of CXCL8, IL1B, IL6, TNF, TNFSF13, TNFSF13B, and NLRP3. We observed that anti-NMDARE patients in the acute phase expressed high levels of DC_CCR7 in human myeloid cells. Moreover, we observed that anti-NMDARE effects include oligoclonal expansions in response to immunizing agents. Strong humoral immunity and positive regulation of lymphocyte activation were observed in acute stage anti-NMDARE patients.
Discussion:
This high-dimensional single-cell profiling of the peripheral immune microenvironment suggests that potential mechanisms are involved in the pathogenesis and recovery of anti-NMDAREs.
